The rising population, especially in the cities, did two things to
further the Industrial Revolution. The first was that it created a
larger and growing pool of labour. More people were willing and able to
fill the expanding job market. The second most important thing is that
a growing population caused a greater demand for products that were
being produced. People of the cities needed more food, more housing,
more consumer products. The Industrial Revolution is the real beginning
of a consumption based society. More people meant more demand witch in
turn fueled increased production to fill the need . . . and the people
in that growing working class were both the producers and the consumers
of the products.
